Friday, May 04, 2007

More Hatian Refugees Drown off Turks and Caicos

Friday May 4, 2007 - As a followup to a previous link to a story posted here on March 27th about Ethiopian and Somali refugees dumped into the seas off the Yemen coast by smugglers, an article just appeared on the Yahoo News site reporting that yet another boat carrying refugees capsized and sank near Turks and Caicos. The boat was apprently carrying Hatian refugees desperately trying to flee the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

At least 20 were drowned and there was evidence of shark attacks, the US Coastguard is searching for at least 60 missing people. The immigration issue is and will certainly be in the media spotlight as the 2008 presidential race heats up. At some point the United States is going to have find a better solution for dealing with the thousands of Hatians illegally trying to enter the US each year.

I am deeply troubled by the conditions all refugees and illegal immigrants face when they seek to escape wars, persectution or rampant poverty - but as an African-American, the plight of refugees of African descent is of particular concern to me personally.

Democratic New York Senator Chuck Schumer

"I don't understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war, an A-R. How is it that easy to buy this type of weapon? How do we not stop this after Columbine, after Sandy Hook? I'm sitting with a mother who lost her son. It's still happening."

GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA 2018

1,859 Deaths, 30 Mass Shootings

"Society as a whole has a fear of addressing our worst secrets. (Just ask any African-American citizen). It's as if we have a societal blindspot that creates an obstacle to understanding. Society as a whole doesn't acknowledge the reality of abuse."